What’s keeping HR up at night? The Great Resignation and much more; Human Resource Executive, January 24, 2022

Kathryn Mayer, Human Resource Executive; What’s keeping HR up at night? The Great Resignation and much more

"All the turmoil of recent years has employees re-evaluating their lives and work,” Jezior says, explaining that more than half of the workforce says the pandemic has them reevaluating their priorities and a third say it’s causing them to consider changing careers.

Furthermore, burnout and other stresses have soared as a result of COVID-19 and its associated challenges, with employees working longer hours, taking less time off, forgoing vacations and dealing with a loss of work-life balance as boundaries blur when they are working remotely.

“The pandemic was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Jezior says. “Employee burnout was simmering long before the pandemic, and now it’s boiled over. [More than half] of working Americans say they are burnt out at work, and that’s just an unsustainable situation for employers who want to keep their workers. Also, employees now have more leverage on salary and benefits, and they often are willing to go to the highest bidder.”"

Emily Douglas, Human Resources Director New Zealand; The problem with ethics in data

"The problem of ‘ethics in data’ has become entrenched in HR. A recent paper published in Philosophical Transactions A by Luciano Floridi and Mariarosaria Taddeo, questioned the nature of ‘data ethics’ and what it means in a corporate setting.

“While the data ethics landscape is complex, we are confident that these ethical challenges can be addressed successfully,” commented Floridi.

“Striking a robust balance between enabling innovation in data science technology, and respecting privacy and human rights will not be an easy or simple task. But the alternative, failing to advance both the ethics and the science of data, would have regrettable consequences.”

It serves as both a scary reminder of what exactly is at stake here, and a rousing challenge for HR practitioners. HR should take on the role of a gatekeeper to employee data – rather than procurer."